1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical apparatus including image pickup means that is fixed in a body and used.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, an endoscope as a medical instrument includes an image pickup apparatus. The endoscope is led into a body cavity of a patient and used for performing various inspections, various kinds of treatments, and the like for an affected area in the body using observation images photographed by the image pickup apparatus.
Examples of such an endoscope include an endoscope that is led into digestive organs such as the esophagus, the stomach, the large intestine, and the duodenum, which are luminal tracts in the body, from the anus or the mouth cavity and an endoscope that is led into the abdominal cavity penetrating through the body wall from the vicinity of the navel. In general, the endoscope has a long insertion portion. The insertion portion is inserted into the digestive organ tract or into the abdominal cavity.
As an apparatus that observes the inside of the body in this way, for example, a television camera for intra-body cavity observation disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-204773 is proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-204773 discloses a technique for, such that a visual field direction of the television camera, coupling the other ends of two operation wires wound around a pulley of a first operation knob to two arm pieces of a cross arm, respectively, coupling the other ends of two operation wires wound around a pulley of a second operation knob to the remaining arm pieces, and pivoting a housing, in which image pickup means and illuminating means are mounted, in an arbitrary direction according to the operation of the operation knobs to change a visual field direction of the image pickup means to an arbitrary direction.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-305525 discloses an image pickup apparatus that can change a visual field direction thereof. The image pickup apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-305525 includes a spherical housing formed in a spherical shape, image pickup means housed in the spherical housing, a tubular main body, and holding means that is provided in the main body, causes an image pickup visual field section of the image pickup means housed in the spherical housing to project from one end side thereof, pivotably holds the spherical housing, and pivots the entire spherical housing in an arbitrary direction to change a visual field direction of the image pickup means.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-344951 discloses an abdominal cavity lifting apparatus with endoscope that is space-saving and can reduce damage to a subcutaneous tissue and stereoscopically observe the inside of the abdominal cavity in a laparoscopic surgery. The abdominal cavity lifting apparatus with endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-344951 includes plural abdominal wall supporting members that bend and extend from a distal end portion of a column section with respect to a longitudinal direction of the column section. In at least one movable abdominal wall supporting member of the plural abdominal wall supporting members, an image pickup section and a light projecting unit are attached to the column section pivotably around the axis of the column section with the distal end of the column section as a fulcrum and provided in a position a predetermined distance apart from the column section in an extending direction on a surface on which the movable abdominal wall supporting member faces the inside of the body.